


We're co-leads and I don't hate you as much as I thought

by Creativityx



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: F/F, Just went out here and wrote up their whole love story start to end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:41:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29552979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Creativityx/pseuds/Creativityx
Summary: A story of Jade and Tori falling in love. Tori makes Jade realise that her differences aren't bad, that she doesn't need to always be carrying scissors and that her vulnerability? Is something that makes her worthy of love.A journey from being assigned the lead roles of Glinda and Elphaba in the school's version of the Wicked musical and falling in love along the way as they start to learn more about each other.
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 12
Kudos: 72





	We're co-leads and I don't hate you as much as I thought

**Author's Note:**

> Am I writing gay Victorious fanfic in 2021? Yes.

She didn’t need help. She was perfectly fine. _No, she wasn’t._ Haley and Tara. _Obnoxious and with terrible voices, they shouldn’t have won._

But they did. _The karaoke club owner, that girl’s father,_ god what an ass kisser, gave those two the win instead.

_She wasn’t mad._ She was furious about it. She knew her talent, knew that they had none. 

She needed help.

So, who’s she to go to except for Vega. Vega, Vega, Vega. She can’t stand her, uppity, proud, sweet little Vega. _She was the only one who could help, she knew that._

So she finds herself at school on Monday, prowling the halls until the girl arrived and the moment she did she yelled out across the hall, ‘Hey! Vega, come here.’

‘Jade? What’s up?’ Tori returned, that same sunshine, _gross, it was gross,_ a smile on her face as always.

‘I need-‘ Jade sighed, and hand running down her face, ‘ _I need your help._ ’

Tori’s smile got that much wider in response, ‘I’m sorry? Did I hear that right? _Jade West_ asking for _my_ help?’

Jade grits her teeth in response, ‘Keep that up and it’ll be you asking for help, Vega.’

Jade watched as Tori’s smile stayed the same, her hands held playfully up in the air, ‘Okay, okay, so what’s the ish?’

‘The _ish_ is I need you to sing at Karaoke Dokie tomorrow at 5 pm and win a singing contest against those snobby little rich girls.’ Jade huffed out.

‘Uh- what if I had plans, Jade? Tomorrow is kind of y-know… tomorrow, soon,’ Tori threw back at her, a frown making its way onto her face.

‘Well do you?’ 

‘I- No.’ 

‘Then what’s the issue?’ Jade returned, a hand whacking against the locker beside her.

‘Well nothing, _ugh fine,’_ the girl conceded, holding out her arm for Jade, _knowing that she was about to be pulled wherever Jade decided to take her._

Jade ignored the way that made her feel as she gripped the other girl’s wrist. _How she just knew her like this, it didn’t mean anything, maybe she was just getting sloppy with her daily Vega antagonising, it’s fine._

She pulled the girl until they were in the janitors closet across from Tori’s locker.

‘Why is it always the closet?’ Tori groaned out her head tilting backwards as she did so.

‘Why not? Maybe I just don’t need to be seen with you, Vega.’

‘And it’s somehow less suspicious when you pull me into a closet?’

Jade could only groan, _this girl is infuriating, was this worth it?_ She thought about the looks those girls had on their faces and looked over at Tori. _Yes, this was much more bearable._

‘Whatever, listen to my plan.’

Tori just sighed, gesturing her hand around the room ‘The floor is yours.’

_Obnoxious,_ pretty, _annoying girl._

Jade can’t remember how long they spent in that closet planning. But? _She wasn’t tired, wasn’t tired in the company of another person_ and when they arrived late to class side-by-side, Jade didn’t care what anyone would think about that. 

When tomorrow came, Jade didn’t know what to expect but seeing Tori dressed like that, she had to hold back her laughter, _didn’t want the girl to think she actually liked her but - it was nice. Nice to see Tori doing this for her._

The night went the same but the challenge was raised to pick anyone in the crowd to compete against and prove that they’re the best. _Simple enough._

_Of course, they chose Vega._

Jade wasn’t expecting much, Vega had a decent voice, better than theirs, she’d win over the crowd and they’d be able to claim victory over those girls.

_She should have known Vega would turn it into a show._ From the moment the first words of freak the freak out left Vega’s lips she knew she _might be_ in a little deep.

She watched as Tori jumped across the tables and danced, making sure to do it to Haley and Tara’s, _perfect, she was per-_ no. No. She didn’t like Vega.

These feelings she was experiencing for the girl must be nothing more than the thrill of starting to win against those girls, to prove that she, _and.. well, by extension, Vega,_ had more talent than those girls ever would. 

_She told herself that’s all it was._ But Vega, always so _friendly,_ reached out to their table and offered Jade her hand to pull her up onto the stage.

_She let herself be pulled._ How could she not? There was just something about her at this moment that made Jade want to, for the first time, let herself be pulled instead of always being the one pulling at the girl, _at everyone she knew, all so afraid to pull at her first._

She let the girl keep singing as she danced with her on the stage, feeling every bit smug when after it all, the crowd voted for Vega instead, _she, no, they had won this._

After their victory, Vega immediately gave Jade the trophy she’d won, ‘I don’t need it you know, it’s basically yours anyways,’ she had said so casually.

Jade could only stand beside the table she had spent most of the night watching the girl, trophy in hand as Vega collected her things and left the building without so much as a glance back at Jade.

_Jade ignored the voice that told her to follow the girl, to say, well, thanks for going with Jade’s wild plan just to get revenge on a couple of girls Vega didn’t even know._

But she let her walk away. She could see her tomorrow at school, it didn’t matter, Vega wasn’t even her friend. 

School comes the next day and she doesn’t see Vega in the halls. Jade’s late, of course, she wouldn’t see Vega. If there’s anything she knows about Vega it’s that she’s painfully good. Always on time, always ready, always smiling, _ugh._

She walks into class and is met with Sikowitz’ sigh, ‘Nice of you to finally show up to class Jade.’

‘Whatever, I’m here, talk,’ Jade returns, slinging her bag over her chair and falling into it. She may have spent most of, if not all of her night not sleeping and thinking about… _things._

She looks over at Vega and is met by a wide smile. _It feels different._ It doesn’t feel forced like she’s doing it because she likes Jade? _Impossible._

Still, she finds herself mouthing the words she wanted to say last night, _Thanks._

Vega’s smile gets wider, she nods, and in a moment Jade had only seen Vega do around Beck, watched the girl duck her head and her face _gets slightly red._

_Interesting._

Her thoughts were cut off by Sikowitz continuing whatever conversation she had walked in the room to. She found herself trying to contain her frustration at the interruption, _is it so much to ask for that man to just let her think about Vega all class?_

God, what was she doing?

‘Very well,’ Sikowitz spoke, waving his hands around, ‘As I was saying, today is the day I announce our play and get auditions started.’

‘Oh! Oh!’ Cat shouts, swinging her hand in their air.

Jade watches as Sikowitz does a ridiculous point at Cat, ‘Yes, my red-haired friend?’

‘What’s the play?’ Cat exclaimed, bouncing in her chair.

‘Yes, what is the play you may ask,’ Sikowitz spoke, spinning and moving towards the stage and until he stood beside a whiteboard covered in a sheet.

‘Well let me tell you all, it’s a tale of adventure, of pain, of longing-‘

‘Get on with it!’ Jade finds herself hissing out.

Sikowitz groaned, ‘You’re always ruining my fun,’ and with that, he pulled the sheet off of the board and there, written in large font, Wicked.

‘I love Wicked,’ Jade hears spoken across the room and finds herself locking eyes with the girl who had begun to fill her thoughts.

‘Wicked, Vega? Let me guess, you’d be auditioning for the role of the good witch,’ Jade returned, a smirk on her face, teasing, _but it was different, she didn’t want to make Vega sad from it like she usually did._

There it was, the same blush Vega had given her only minutes before rising back onto the girl’s face, ‘I- well yeah, I like her, like her uh spunk, you know? Ha-ha.’

Jade could only watch in interest as the words, painfully awkward, continued to pour out of the girl’s mouth as she explained her love for the character.

Jade almost felt obligated to stop the girl from embarrassing herself any more than she already had, wanting her to _not hurt_ , strange, ’I’m not judging, Vega, a main character, aiming big, that’s… good.’

A small smile made its way onto Vega’s face in response, ‘Thanks, Jade.’

_Jade could only nod, afraid of saying something hurtful, choosing silence for the first time._ This was normally the perfect time to tease Vega for this but she couldn’t, she didn’t want to, she refused. 

The rest of the class passed by idly, Jade occasionally glancing over at Vega when the girl was looking the other way, she doesn’t know why she cares so much, a part of her wants to see the girl blush again, _but she didn’t like her, did she?_

‘Jade, _Jade,_ Jade!’ She was broken out of her reverie by Beck’s voice.

‘What?’ She finds herself shouting, smacking her hand against her chair as she turns to him, brow furrowed.

‘Easy,’ he returned, ‘Class is over, you’re out of it today, normally you’re out the door before the bell has even rung.’

It was Jade this time who found herself desperately containing a blush, ‘It’s nothing, mind your business, fluff boy.’

‘Fluff boy?’ Beck asked, tilting his head at her.

‘Your stupid hair, _ugh_ , I don’t care, I’m leaving, don’t follow me,’ Jade let out, ripping her bag off of the back of her seat and pushing her way out of the door.

She took her time getting to her next class, _knowing it was another she shared with Vega._ She planned to walk the entire way alone, but of course, Cat would find her.

‘Jade? What’s up? You were like weird this morning and I know weird, like one time my brother-‘

Jade cuts her off. There’s only so many times she can hear another story about all of the odd things her brother does, _and not in a way Jade actually liked._

‘Nothing, nothing at all, Cat _I’m perfectly fine, 1000 percent great,’_ she returns and hates every single word she throws into that sentence, she couldn’t have shouted that there was in fact something bothering her any louder than that.

Cat tilts her head thoughtfully at those words, ‘Did Beck do something?’

Jade frowns at that feeling her frustration rise, ‘Why does everyone always assume _I’m bothered because of him, I’m more than that annoying mess, we’re not even dating anymore.’_ She grits each word out. 

No. It wasn’t Beck and since Vega… _Tori_ had shown up at school, it had only ever been her. It just took a little while for Jade to realise her feelings towards her weren’t jealously over Beck.

‘Then what is it?’ Cat returns, blocking Jade’s path to the classroom they’d almost arrived at.

‘Since when were you so-' _understanding, she wanted to say but kept it to herself._ ‘It’s not about Beck, _but there are feelings,’_ she offers to the other girl.

‘Do I know _him?’_ Cat asks, moving so that she was by Jade’s side once more no longer blocking her path.

‘You know _them,_ yes, _’_ Jade admits. _It wasn't him and maybe, she never really wanted him in the first place, just the idea of one, of Beck, of what it meant to be just a little ordinary._

‘Oo maybe I can guess,’ Cat responds enthusiastically, pulling Jade by her arm to their classroom and starting her journey.

_Jade tried not to yell._ Cat sat there _for the entire class_ doing subtle gestures or rather, as subtle as Cat can be, at the various boys in the class.

She considered it for a moment, just pointing directly at Vega and seeing how Cat would respond. But she knew that a girl like Cat would gasp, loudly blurt Tori’s name and make a show out of it.

‘Ms West you’re up next,’ the teacher spoke, cutting them both out of the strange activity of Cat trying to determine which person Jade liked.

_She hadn’t realised who was on the stage waiting,_ too distracted by Cat to even consider it. There she stood in all her _cuteness, god she was cute,_ waiting for Jade to take to the stage.

Her eyes were slightly wide as she took her spot at Tori’s side and she just _knew_ that Cat had picked up on it and was trying to put the pieces together if that look on her face was any indication.

‘You may be wondering, why are you on this stage,’ the woman spoke, her hands gesturing dramatically before she pulled Tori and Jade by their arms to be face to face across from each other.

_Jade takes a step back. Too close. Much too close to the girl that had been filling her mind with thoughts of… more than hate, and perhaps, a little more than just friendship._

‘Well,’ the woman continued, raising a brow at Jade as she stepped back, ‘We’re writing songs, and what better way to get those creative juices flowing that through improv.’

It’s Tori who chips in at that, ‘Uhhh improv about what?’ She was fiddling with her hands, a nervous tick Jade had noticed. Though _the blush that had formed? That was something Jade had noticed she’d only do around her, not even Beck getting that reaction._

‘Yes, yes, the two of you, improv, lyrics flowing between two entities, feelings for one another drifting to the audience! It’s perfect.’ Jade finds herself swallowing roughly at the thought, _feelings? She could sing about hating Tori… She couldn’t sing a lie, she wasn’t that good._

It’s Beck who chips in, ‘Uhh, I know you’re new to the school but those two hate each other, you’re just going to get them at each other’s throats by the end of this.’

Tori ducks her head at that, looking away as she bit her lip. _Jade thinks that maybe Tori feels a little bit the same towards Jade._ At the very least, she thinks that Tori doesn’t hate her anymore.

The teacher laughs at that, ‘Water under the bridge, art is art, regardless of the form it's exposed in, _please ladies, start your song.’_

The two of them stare at each other for a moment, neither able to decide the words, _to decide who should start, or how much they could say._

‘Shy are we?’ Their teacher offers, looking between them, ‘Then I shall pick our starting voice.’ She spins a finger around wildly before swiftly turning, ’Go, sing.’ It was Tori she had pointed at.

She watches as the other girl awkwardly rubs at the back of her neck, ‘Uhhh sure.’

_A deep breath, eyes closed, Tori starts her song, quiet, the rest of the room barely making out the words._ ‘I’ve met a lot of people, who didn’t really like the way I am.’

Jade frowns at that, ‘I know a lot of people, but there’s some that aren’t too bad, who don’t make me want to hit them with the scissors in my bag.’ 

Tori takes a step closer, her eyes opening as she looks directly into Jade’s eyes, ‘It’d be nice to meet the people who don’t make you mad, to see the ones who you thrive with, that keep your scissors out of your hand.

She finds herself taking the same steadying breath Tori took at the start, briefly looking over at the crowd. She feels a slight redness make its way onto her cheeks when she saw the way Cat’s eyes were wide, a smile spreading across her face. 

‘I’d say it’s hard but you wouldn’t have to look far,’ she moves forward, a little closer to Tori once again, ‘there’s one good person who tops them all, _really, I hate to say this shit,_ but she’s the one I never want to hit, maybe I’d rather k-'

The song is cut off by the teacher clapping loudly, ‘Your time is up girls, incredible, raw, passionate, now that is the song improv I like to see.’

Tori lets out a gentle gasp at that, stepping back on realising just how close the two of them had become, _lips almost touching._

There was a pause amongst the rest of the class before Cat started clapping and the rest of them awkwardly following suit. 

Jade makes her way back to her seat, next to Cat, while Tori returns to her place next to Beck. She can hear him whisper out, _‘What was that?’_ Tori just shakes her head, her face getting even redder than before

Cat just bounces in her seat her eyes flicking to Tori and back to Jade the rest of class. _God the class goes on for an eternity._ Jade sits there tapping her foot impatiently on the ground at each song. Beck and Andre. Cat and some girl she didn’t bother to learn the name of.

When class finally ends she gets up out of her seat ready to leave, to hide and contemplate the fact that she had practically admitted her feelings to the girl in front of a class.

_She’s stopped by Cat grabbing her arm and dragging her along with her to the spot they normally went to chat alone outside, dropping their bags to the ground._

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Beck doing the same to Tori and wants to yank his arm off of her. If Cat didn’t have a hand on Jade, she might have tried.

‘Sooo,’ Cat starts, bouncing on her toes, ‘The person you like is-‘ 

Jade smacks one of her hands against Cat’s lips hissing out, ‘Can you say it quietly, please? I don’t need the rest of the school to know.’ She watches Cat for a moment waiting for her response, only removing her hand once she gets the head nod out of her.

‘ _Tori?’_ Cat whispers out.

She considers denying it, saying she’s just that good of an actress but knows she can’t. ‘Yes, _it’s her.’_

Cat squeals in response, ‘Oh Jade I’m so happy, Beck is pretty but he never was good, but Tori’s so cute and pretty and-'

‘Okay, _okay,_ ’ Jade lets out, trying to ignore the blush that made its way onto her face at the fact that her mind had been thinking just that. _Tori was cute, pretty and made to kiss._

‘So what are you going to do about it?’ Cat asks curiously, pulling back from Jade.

She bites her lip at that. _Admit her feelings? No. No. No, she really couldn’t do that and ruin whatever image she had left._ ‘I think I’ll just ignore it,’ she sighs, ‘We’ve got a play soon and once that happens, it'll all blow over.’

Cat crinkles her nose at that, ‘Love doesn’t just blow over Jade, _my brother has a leaf-blower and I don’t think it would work.’_

‘What else can I do?’ Jade finds herself questioning desperately.

Cat places a hand on Jade's bicep, ‘Tell her?’

’No.’ She returns, picking up the bag she’d dropped and walking away.

The next class she spends without Tori in it, the only one she didn’t spend with her. It was for the best, a break from her, time to recollect her feelings, _throw them away._

It would be all too easy if Beck didn’t slide half-way through the class that he just _must_ sit beside Jade.

‘I will cut you with my scissors if you get any closer,’ she warns him as he starts to shuffle his chair. 

‘Easy,’ he grumbles, raising his hands in the air.

‘Why are you sitting next to me?’ She returns, repositioning herself in her chair so that she was far away from him as possible.

‘We’re friends, Jade,’ he offers, placing his hands on his lap.

She shoots him a glare, _can’t believe that he really thought she wouldn’t catch on to his crap, it’s the whole reason they broke up in the first place._ ‘If this was just about friendship you would have sat next to me in every class, including at the start of this one.’

He frowns at that, giving up on the act and running a hand through his hair, ‘I just, I thought you hated Tori but today it was different, _that song was different,’_ she moves to cut him off, to end the conversation there.

Beck is persistent though and continues, ‘It’s not just about whatever you’ve got going on with her,’ he taps a foot against the floor as he works through his thoughts, ‘You’ve never sang in improv like that with me.’

Jade pauses at that, her anger dissipating, ‘Sang like what?’

His face grows softer at that, an almost understanding smile making its way onto his face, ‘With feeling, like you really wanted me.’

She smacks at her chair at his words, _shooting a glare when the teacher tells her to settle down before continuing the lecture._ ‘I _do not_ have feelings for Tori.’

He places a hand atop of her own, ‘You just called her Tori, _I think you do.’_

Her lip quivers at that and she offers no response. When he pulls his chair in closer to be right against her own she didn’t fight it. When he rubs her hand in that same soothing motion he did when they were dating she knew deep down, _this worked better as friendship._

At lunch she finds herself sitting at the same table, Tori there too, _her friend_ Beck by Tori’s side. _She realises it then._ The way Beck would shoot her encouraging looks across the table, Cat tapping at her knee every time Tori would speak.

_Support and understanding._ She couldn’t remember the last time someone in her life offered her that, _aside from Tori, the girl willing to dress like that and sing in front of a crowd just to make Jade feel better._

Maybe all of this came from the simple fact of wanting Tori, _a wild concept._

‘So, Jade,’ Tori starts after she’s finished her food, that blush blossoming the same as always when she spoke to Jade, ‘What role did you audition for in the Wicked musical?’

‘Elphaba,’ she offers, a smile on her face.

‘The wicked witch?’ Tori responds, a playful grin making its way onto her face.

Jade hums at that, just admiring Tori’s face for a moment, _she’s cute,_ ’She’s much more than just a wicked witch, Tori.’

She watched a myriad of emotions cross Tori’s face and realises for a moment that it’s because she called her Tori instead of Vega.

‘I- _I mean,’_ Tori stumbles over her words, her face flushed, Beck grinning at her side and Cat back to her bouncing as he eyes flickered wilding between the two of them, ‘She’s great, Glinda really cares about her and so she’s obviously, _uh you know,_ a lot more than just wicked.’

‘That is true,’ Jade returns, drumming her fingers on the cafeteria table, feeling almost smug at the way Tori fumbled with her words, knowing that she was the cause of it.

Tori lets out a sharp breath as she recollects herself, ‘God, no I have much better analysis’ of wicked than that, it’s just, _you called me Tori.’_

Jade leans slightly across the table as she questions the other girl, ‘Got a problem with it, Tori?’

The blush flares again, ‘No, _nopety nope,_ no problem at all, _Jade.’_

Jade was used to it, Tori saying her name, very rarely using her last name, she knew it was her thing to use people’s last names but… the way Tori had just said her name had her feeling _things. So many inexplicable things._

‘Good,’ she lets out after clearing her throat with an awkward cough.

Tori smiles at that, ‘Good.’ 

The final class of the day, they share. _Jade really doesn’t think she can reject her feelings in the way she told Cat._ Not when Tori pulled up her chair right next to Jade’s own, a hand against her thigh as she listened to the teacher talk.

‘What are you doing?’ Jade whispers out, turning her face towards Tori’s own.

‘Just, doing some of the things I’ve been wanting to do for a while,’ she pauses, a look crossing her face, ‘If you don’t like it I can stop, I don’t want you to think-‘

Jade answers by placing her hand on top of Tori’s, keeping it in place on her thigh, ‘No, you can stay.’

The desk they shared in that class quickly started to see their pencils, books and documents meld into each other the closer they got. Soon Jade was using one of Tori’s bright, cheap and relatively useless pens while Tori held one of Jade’s more expensive black ones. 

Every so often Tori would tap her foot against Jade’s own, a look of confusion on her face as she tried to work out an answer. _For the first time, Jade wasn’t annoyed at being asked questions,_ sliding her hand across Tori’s book and showing her how to get the solution. _It was good._

They separated in the carpark at the end of the day. Jade hopped in her car while Tori reluctantly shuffled over to a waiting Trina in her own. 

_For once, though,_ Jade was excited for the next day. The roles for Wicked would be announced and she’d get to spend her day with Tori again.

The next morning came and went, her classes all a blur, waiting to get to Sikowitz’ and find out who got what roles. When she enters the classroom, early for once, Tori is waiting, patting the seat beside her with a bright smile. Jade immediately takes it and waits for the class to fill.

‘Alright! Today’s the day,’ Sikowitz cheers as he enters, ‘We find out who is who is in our Wicked extravaganza.’ He pauses and sighs, ‘Shall we now wait those 5 more minutes for Ms West to show her face?’

Jade rolls her eyes at that, controlling her anger when Tori places a hand against her arm, ‘Right here, chop-chop, tell us the roles.’

Sikowitz jumps at her voice, ‘Ah!’ He waves his arms dramatically before composing himself, ‘A Jade, on time,’ a glance between the two of them looking down at Tori’s hand still on Jade, ‘How new.’ 

He dances back to the stage, that same whiteboard covered in its sheet, ‘Perfect, let's get this show on the road.’ When he pulls that sheet off the board, she reads the names before he speaks them. _The only two she cared about._

Tori Vega: Glinda

Jade West: Elphaba

Tori bounces in her chair in delight, ‘We’re the leads, Jade,’ she cheers out.

Jade lets out a small laugh, placing a hand against Tori’s knee to stop her bouncing, ‘We are.’ 

Tori goes silent for a moment, before lowering her voice so that only Jade could hear, ‘Normally I wouldn’t want to be co-leads with you,’ she moves, copying Jade and placing her own hand against Jade’s knee. ‘But now? I’m really glad it’s you.’

The smile that makes its way on her face is the most genuine one she’s had in years, ‘So am I.’

One all the roles are revealed, Sikowitz starts handing out the scripts and separating them into small groups. He grabs Tori and Jade last, pulling them over to the side. 

‘Since you two are the leads, it’s only fitting you work alone,’ he hums a contemplative look on his face, ‘Just don’t kill each other, _please._ ’

Jade can’t help the playfulness that sparks at his works, jabbing Tori lightly in her side, ‘No promises.’ 

He groans loudly at that, eyeing them back and forth before giving up, offering nothing more than a pleading look as he moves back through the groups to check on their progress.

’Soo,’ Tori starts, ‘Now that we’re alone,’ she pauses, a smile on her face.

‘Yes?’ Jade answers

‘What’s your favourite song from Wicked?’ 

Jade laughs at that. Of course, Tori considers alone time the perfect moment to try and work out Jade’s favourite songs. She doesn’t hate it. She might love it, Tori just wanting to know things about her.

‘No One Mourns the Wicked,’ Jade offers. It was a source of solace in her angrier years when her parents first split, _she certainly didn’t mourn the wicked crap that led to their separation._

Tori looks thoughtful, ‘Can I ask why?’

Jade bites her lip, she hadn’t even spoken to Beck about her parent's divorce and they'd dated each other for 2 years. ‘It helped me through some shit a while ago.’ It’s not the full answer, but right now, it’s all she can offer.

She watches as the other girl nods at that. She knows Tori isn’t convinced that she’s given the full answer. But by some blessing, she doesn’t press, instead, continuing the discussion, ‘Mine is For Good.’

Jade raises her brows at that, ‘For good? You seem to be more of a popular kind of girl.’

Tori only moves closer and Jade can’t help but let it happen, feeling the way Tori slides halfway into her lap, an arm loosely around her side, ‘I just like the fact that they changed but didn’t hate each other after it, letting the other go, it’s hard, it’s beautiful.’

Jade wraps her arm around Tori’s side in response, ‘You really are.’ _Oh. Wait. Shit. She didn’t mean to call the girl beautiful._

Tori’s cheeks turn red at that, ‘Did you just-‘

Jade considers denying it, trying to find an excuse for those words but comes up short. _Why deny her feelings when her friends for once were in support of them?_ ‘I did, you are beautiful.’

A silence passes for only a moment before Tori tucks her head under Jade’s chin, ‘So are you.’

When she looked around the room, there was no disgust. Beck looked positively beaming while Cat patted his arm as she spoke enthusiastically about whatever was on her mind. 

_This was good._ She went back to practising her lines with Tori, pulling the girl so that she was completely in her lap, ’ _my roommate isss… blonde,’_ she whispers playfully in Tori’s ear.

Tori laughs at that, ‘More like _unusually peculiar,’_ moving so that her hand tapped against the scissors she knew Jade had in her pocket. 

‘I will give you that,’ she hums, removing the scissors from her pocket and placing them on the floor beside them.

‘You’re removing them?’ Tori asks inquisitively, _of course, she knew how important it was for Jade to be carrying a pair. To have the stability that comes from knowing she could protect herself._

‘I’d hardly want to jab our poor Glinda before the play has even started,’ she offers up, pushing them away.

She wants to offer more. To offer her the reasons for why she does things. But she’s terrified. Terrified of what it means to give that much of herself to someone, _she couldn’t even offer it to her parents. Maybe that’s why-_

She feels movement against her, Tori’s forehead pressing against her cheek, ‘You’re getting lost in that mind of yours, Jade.’

She only nods, tapping lightly at Tori’s arm and rising from the floor. ‘I think we’ve done enough practice for today, what do you say we leave and go get lunch?’

Tori gives a smile, rising from the floor before offering her hand to Jade and lifting her. They move to leave before Tori pauses, ‘What about the scissors?’

‘I have a locker full of them, they won’t be missed.’

With that, they move out of the school and towards Jade’s car. She unlocks it and waves at Tori to enter. A loud laugh escapes her as Tori wiggles in her seat before buckling herself before Jade has even put her sunglasses on. ‘You all secure?’

‘I don’t know how you drive,’ Tori defends, giving her a suspicious glance as she wiggles once more. 

Jade hums, turning the key to start her car, ‘Legally.’ The look of horror that makes its way onto Tori’s face is absolutely priceless. _Who knew this girl would bring her so much laughter._

Their drive isn’t very long, idle conversation passing between them, ‘So where are you taking me?’ Tori asks.

‘A place that I love to visit makes some really good food, has all the things that entertain me,’ she offers, tapping at the steering wheel at the song that was coming from her stereo. 

‘ _Oh,’_ Tori responds, before drumming her fingers against her lap, ‘Have you taken anyone else here before?’ 

Jade pauses at that, looking out of the windscreen and focusing solely on the road and she worked out the words to use, ‘No, _no, you’ll be the first.’_

She doesn’t know how Tori would respond. Should have expected it to be nothing but support, _it was sunshine Tori she’s talking to, of course, she’d be supportive._ ‘Well then, I’m glad you’re sharing it with me.’

The rest of the ride passes quietly, they didn’t need to say a thing, the only sounds being the road, cars passing by and the radio they’d occasionally sing along with. 

When she pulls up in the carpark, she can’t help but smile. It was one of her favourite places. It’s not one she took Beck to, wanting to keep something for herself from him _never realising why doing that was a problem._

She moves around the car and opens the door for Tori, ‘Well come on, let’s go in.’

Their meal is filled with laughter, Tori’s final debate they discuss until they have to leave about how to make Elphaba more fashionable but still maintain _her aesthetic. Yes. She listened for hours about the witch aesthetic she should curate as Elphaba and enjoyed every minute of it._

When they returned back to school, there was only one class left and they were split off to sit with other people to complete a project. Yet, every time Jade looked over to Tori, Tori was looking back, a blush and a smile never leaving her face.

_She might actually like Tori. More than she’d ever liked anyone before. It was both terrifying and exhilarating to finally meet someone who made her not want to pull out her scissors and yell._

The next day passes by mostly a blur, a morning of Sikowitz’ classes spent close together under the guise of needing to practice their lines together and every other class without excuses, just the desire to be close to one another until they arrive at lunch.

When they sit down by each other’s sides and that’s enough for André to speak up, ‘So, the two of you,’ he pauses eyeing them both off, ‘Don’t hate each other anymore?’

Robbie chips in, _through that puppet, Rex_ ‘Yeah where’s the Jade full of I hate you, Vega, with her scissors and girl anger?’ 

Jade hisses at that pulling out of her scissors and moving across the table towards them, ‘Ah tell that woman to put it away she’s gon’ get me,’ _that puppet cries out._

‘Jade!’ Robbie panics, moving behind André.

It’s Tori’s hands wrapping around Jade’s waist and pulling her back into her seat that calms her down again. She closes her eyes for a moment, sighs and lets Tori take the scissors out of her hands and put them back into her bag.

André just blinks in shock at the action, ‘No way, now you two _definitely_ gotta tell us what’s goin’ on here.’

‘It’s none of your business _André,’_ she grits out. They didn’t need to know a thing about her and Tori. She didn’t even know what to call it, how could they possibly expect an answer?

Tori places a hand on her thigh in a way that had started to soothe her more, better than any of Beck’s actions ever had. ‘We’ve started to like each other and get to know each other better, the play helps.’

_It was much more than just the play, they both knew that._ Still, Jade couldn’t help but shoot a small smile in Tori's direction for not oversharing through that sweet sally peaches attitude and just letting Jade work through it.

André nods at that, ‘A’ight keep it a mystery for now, but I’ll work it out, this musician’s got a detective mind.’

‘I’m sure,’ Beck adds, patting André on the shoulder.

‘What’d you mean, man, I’ve got that shit down,’ André returns.

Their conversation soon spirals with André explaining all the reasons he can and should be a detective musician while Robbie and Beck tried not to laugh too hard as the reasoning got more and more ridiculous. 

Cat turned from their conversation and over to Jade and Tori, ‘I know why and I think it’s nice, you too are nice,’ she comments.

_‘Cat,’_ Jade hisses between her teeth.

‘What? She asks, tilting her head in confusion, ‘I just think you two are cute together.’

She looks between them and realises what Jade’s reaction meant, _they weren’t actually together._ There was all of this flirting, touches and feelings but never the words, _‘I want to be with you.’_

‘ _Oh,_ ’ Cat sighs out, a little pout on her lips, ‘Well, eventually!’ She grins before turning to the boys to debate André’s detective career with equal vigour.

She reaches instinctively for the scissors in her bag, thumbing them idly and looking anywhere but at Tori.

Tori responds, slowly pulling Jade’s hand out of the bag and from the scissors into her own, ‘What was that about?’

Jade sighs, grasping at Tori’s hand instead of letting hers hang loosely, ‘Just Cat having ideas about things before they’ve really been worked out, _it’s fine, it’s nothing to worry your pretty little head about.’_

Tori frowns but lets the subject drop, instead, smiling as she spoke, ‘You think my head is pretty?’

‘The prettiest,’ Jade confirms without thought.

_She knows Tori is grinning and hopes that blush is on her face but can’t bring herself to look up and feel everything at once._

So, instead, she looks at the detective debaters and after a while, they turn back to get the two of them involved, Tori wilding suggesting how André could make that career work while maintaining her grip on Jade’s hand.

_Jade didn’t say a thing and didn’t mind it at all, having someone else be her voice and fill in the gaps when she couldn’t. Tori gave her so much and god, did Jade want to give her more._

At the end of the day, Jade feels less panicked that her feelings for Tori were going to get exposed by anyone but herself and took a slow walk back to her car. Just before she managed to enter, she felt a hand on her wrist.

She got ready to yank it back hard, pull out her scissors and yell at whoever dared to touch her before realising it was Tori.

‘Tori,’ she spoke softly, ‘What are you doing here?’

Tori looked around the carpark wildly for a moment before nodding to herself and moving closer to Jade.

‘What are you-‘ Jade starts, cut off by Tori’s arms wrapping around her waist, her chin settling against her shoulder.

‘I’ve really been wanting to hug you, today, before today and never really found a good time,’ Tori admits, cuddling herself impossibly closer to Jade’s body. It’s then she realises she hadn’t yet hugged her back, her arms stiff at her side from the shock of being held.

She loosens them and moves to wrap them around the other girl in turn, and, in being that bit shorter, finds herself resting her head against Tori’s collarbone.

‘This is nice,’ Tori whispers out, rubbing her cheek against Jade’s own.

‘It is,’ Jade responds, closing her eyes and she settles herself into Tori’s embrace.

‘When do I have to let go?’ Tori asks, a grumble this time and she moves her arms to wrap more firmly around Jade.

‘Never if you don’t want to,’ Jade responds, _before realising she’d said that and feeling the blush rise to her cheeks._

When Tori presses her cheek back against Jade’s own, she can feel the heat from it and calms herself at knowing that she wasn’t the only one affected by this.

‘If I didn’t have to get home, I’d take you up on that offer,’ she sighs before reluctantly pulling away from Jade.

Jade wishes she would just stay, wishes she had the courage to ask Tori to come to her house for the night and maybe just work out all their feelings, _end the night with her lips against Tori’s own if it went well._ She couldn’t. She hopes she can soon.

They part after a few more minutes of being close to one another, hopping in their separate cars to their homes.

When Jade arrives the next day, late with two coffees in her hands after struggling to sleep it's to Sikowitz loudly shouting in the classroom about the set design he has stored in his mind for wicked, _one too many coconuts covering the floor._

Jade just raises her eyebrows as she enters the room and makes her way over to Tori, glad to see that the girl has saved her a seat.

Once she’s seated Tori returns to looking back at their teaching with a significant degree of concern before Jade taps at her arm, ‘For you,’ she offers, holding out a coffee.

‘Not from the garbage this time?’ Tori asks with a playful smile.

‘From the same store as the one I’m holding,’ she returns, biting her lip at remembering that she’d done that to Tori before, _regretting that she had._

She watched Tori take her first sip, relishing in the smile that made its way onto her face, ‘You like it?’

‘Like it?’ Tori hums, ‘Love it actually, this is just how I like my coffee, how’d you know?’

‘You order the same every day, I’ve been stuck behind you in the line plenty of times as you’ve recited your weirdly long order,’ Jade teases, _remembering just how many ingredients Tori requested in her cup of coffee. Maybe Jade could get her used to enjoying it black or at least without so much sugar._

‘That’s fair, it does take a while,’ Tori admits before looking over at Jade, Sikowitz’ ranting still in the background of their conversation, ‘If you tried it I might sway you to my side, eh, how ’bout it?’

Jade huffs at that, ‘I ordered that sugary nightmare there’s no way I’m drinking it.’

‘Please for me?’ Tori asks and Jade immediately regrets looking at her face and seeing the most ridiculously _adorable_ pout on her face.

She groans loudly, tapping her foot against the ground as she tried to think of any answer that let her get out of trying that drink, _there was none, how could she think when Tori just existed like that?_

‘Fine. One sip,’ she hummed, looking over for a moment, ‘But you have to take at least one sip of my drink in return.’

Tori sticks her tongue out at that, ‘But it’s going to be so _bitter,’_ she whines.

‘And yours is going to be so _sweet,_ it’s only fair.’

Tori pouts at that but hands over her cup and reaches over to grab Jade’s own. They take a sip at the same time and Jade can’t help but laugh as Tori’s face scrunches up, ‘It’s bitter.’

Jade stops her blinking from drinking Tori’s at that, ‘It’s sweet, might as well be cake in a coffee cup.’

Tori huffs and goes to rebut Jade’s statement before Sikowitz cuts them off, ‘If you two are done with you strange flirting over defining each other’s personalities you can listen to my class and hear my plans for the set around you scenes.’

The rest of the class lets out a laugh at that, immediately stopping once Jade shoots a glare at all of them. She offers her hand to a blushing Tori and continues drinking her coffee as Sikowitz starts to speak again.

The conversation ends with a conclusive statement that all other classes for the cast are cancelled. The play was to happen in a week, _budgeting was a bit strict_ Sikowitz mumbles out.

Tori squeezes Jade’s hand at that and she can’t help but return it. A whole day with Tori, only a month ago that would have been her personal nightmare. But today? She couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be.

The chairs are pushed back to make room for their practice and Tori pulls Jade along to join their friends. 

‘You guys,’ Beck lets out a laugh in his voice, ‘Here’s the line I’m going to really sell, _with some feeling of course.’_

Tori waves her hand dramatically at that with a bow, ‘The stage is all yours.’

Jade can’t help but smile as she watches Beck pull Cat over to him and dramatically fall to one knee grasping her hand in his own,’ Oh _my Nessarose,_ I love you so much, come with me.’ He drops his head to the ground as he finishes his line.

‘You didn’t get a single one of Boq’s lines right there,’ Jade comments in disbelief, god she thought that made all that hair fluff was hiding something but maybe it was hiding _literally nothing._

Beck just laughs it off, standing back up as his smile widens when Cat gives him a giggly laugh, ‘It’s improv Jade,’ he pauses, his smile turning into a smirk, ‘I think if anyone knows what that means _it’s you.’_

It takes everything within Jade not to smack him over the head. Of course, he of all people had to know she liked Tori and decided to be smug about it. _Maybe she should just kick his ass… Improv. She could improv a line where Elphaba kicks Boq’s ass._

They quickly descend into joke-lines and Jade tolerates it. She thinks that maybe she could tolerate all of it and not once reach for her scissors or hit something, especially when Tori smiled so widely and laughed so loudly at every line.

It’s André who chips in after a while, shooting a look at Beck as her starts, ‘You know, If I’m analysing this play,’ he comments, tapping at the script in his hand, ‘I might say that Glinda and Elphaba had more than a friendship thing goin’ on ya know?’

Jade narrows her eyes at him, daring for him to continue and instinctively reaching for her comfort, _always those scissors._ ‘Oh, maybe you little Fiyero and Boq had a thing too.’

She hears Beck’s laughter, ‘I think we could pull it off man, me and you, riding off into the sunset.’

_Oh boy, she didn’t even need improv to whack them at this point._ She makes a move towards them and hears André squeak out once he realises. It’s Tori’s hand, gentle as always that stops her from actually swinging, pulling her back and away from them.

‘How about we practice more of our lines together?’ Tori offers before gesturing to Cat, ‘There’s a few we could practice with Cat too.’

Jade can only let out a sigh, _had Tori really made her this soft and willing to give up on a fight already?_ ‘I guess she can join us.’

Practising lines with Cat is tolerable but for the most part? Jade just watches Tori. The girl can perform like nothing else and in turn, _Jade wanted her like nothing else._ Admitting that to the other girl in spite of how often she blushed because of Jade seemed impossible.

Still, at the end of the day, Jade pulls Tori aside in the carpark and asks her a question that’s been running through her mind, ‘Would you like to spend the night at my house?’

Her eyes widen as she realises what she’s asked, ‘Shit I mean to practice our lines for the play, it’s only a couple of days away from the premiere.’ 

Tori ducks her head at the question, brushing some loose strands of hair behind her ear, I’d like that, yeah.’ 

There’s some whining from Trina but Tori shows up at her door an hour after school, one of her bright backpacks in hand. Jade couldn’t help but smile at the sight, _more than anything, smiling at the fact that she had the girl who’d been running through her mind entering her house._

‘So this is your house?’ Tori comments as she walks through the door, seeing the bright white panelling of the kitchen cupboards and soft, pale carpet lining much of the floors. _She knew it was the opposite of her, but in her bedroom? She could exist away from it all._

‘Yeah, well, my mother designed it and it’s whatever,’ she huffs out, grabbing at Tori’s hand and pulling her through the halls and up the stairs to her bedroom. _It still hurts to look at the house her parents built together and almost tore apart when they divorced._

When they pull up to her room, Jade pushes open her door and waits for Tori’s reaction. _All she gets in Tori smiling._ ‘It’s very you,’ she comments, reaching to hold Jade’s hand with her spare one, ‘It’s nice, I like it, I'm glad to see you really do like these things.’

She relaxes at those words and in a moment of trust, drops her bag in the corner, the one that held those scissors she was so used to reaching for.

Tori starts to walk around her room, offering little ooh’s and ahh’s whenever something interests her. _Jade relaxes a little too much and before she’s realised?_ Tori has her hand on _that._

‘Don’t touch that!’ She shouts, moving across the room and pulling it out of Tori’s hand.

Tori stumbles in her shock and Jade reacts in panic, reaching out and catching the girl before she hits the floor. Tori’s panting, eyes wide as she stares at Jade, grasping tightly at her arms with her hands.

It takes Jade a moment to realise before pulling at Tori so that she’s back on her feet and moving to place the item back on the table. ‘I’m sorry,’ she offers, ‘Sorry for shouting at you.’

Tori bites her lip, her brows furrowed, ‘Why’d you shout? They’re just theatre tickets.’

‘They’re not just-‘ she starts off aggressively, before running a hand through her hair and soothing her anger, ‘ _They’re not just tickets to me.’_

Tori’s face softens at that, reaching over to Jade and grabbing at her hand. Jade lets her pull her to the bed, _she doesn’t want to be angry at Tori, she doesn't know, no one does, she never shares._

‘Can we talk about it?’ Tori asks after they lie side by side on the bed for a while.

She considers it for a moment, letting herself be so vulnerable around someone, _knowing how badly she wanted Tori to accept all of her… to love all of her._ ‘Okay.’

And so, for the first time, she spills about the pain she couldn’t even share with her parents. _Impossible to share with the people that caused it in the first place._

’So,’ she sighs out, reaching for the scissors on her bedside table and idly opening and closing them, _watching as Tori didn’t judge the action at all, simply pulling Jade against her side and wrapping an arm around her._ ‘My parents? They’re divorced. I live with my mother but she doesn’t really want me any more than my father does.’

She grits her teeth, opening and closing the scissors at an accelerated pace, ‘But I still live here, see all of their bright, happy house design and know that their relationship is anything but that.’

Tori reaches over and pulls the scissors out of her hand, placing them on her side of the bed, ‘I can hear a ‘but’ in that sentence.’

She sighs, leaning her head against Tori’s shoulder in a show of trust, melting into the other girl when Tori rests her head atop of Jade’s own, ‘But there was a time they were happy, would take us to watch theatre shows, I don’t even remember which one that is, the inks all smudged from the years, but the memory is enough.’

Tori just rubs her hand up and down Jade’s side in response, ‘I’m glad you have the memory, and no matter how messed up they are, I think you’re the opposite of whack.’

‘Tell that to them, my scissors, my room, the way I dress is everything they hate,’ Jade mutters out in frustration.

‘Do you like it?’ Tori asks.

She considers it for a moment, and knows the answer, ‘I love it.’

‘Then that’s all the matters,’ Tori returns, moving to pull Jade against her, chest-to-chest in a gentle embrace.

_She buries her face into Tori's collarbone and closes her eyes, taking her time to settle into the soothing feeling of being close to the other girl._

That’s when she notices the opportunity. _To tell Tori how she feels, and with a deep breath she speaks,_ ‘There’s something else I love too.’

‘Oh?’ Tori comments idly, moving to run her hands down Jade’s back, ‘What?’

‘You,’ she admits finally.

‘Me?’ Tori squeaks out, her hands stilling on Jade’s back and Jade feels her worry grow, moving so that she could look at the other girl’s face. _It was worth it._ A bright blush covers its entirety, a smile lighting up her whole face.

‘I love you too,’ Tori speaks, softly, a conversation made only for the two of them to hear.

Jade smiles at that, _it felt different to when Beck said it to her, that obligation to return his feelings, to make their relationship look good, they loved each other, people should envy their relationship._ It’s with Tori she learns just how wrong she was.

Tori breaks through the silence that was forming with a question, ‘Can I kiss you?’

‘You’re the only one I want kissing me,’ Jade confirms.

Tori grins, placing her hands on either of Jade’s cheeks and pulling her up the length of her own body, Jade still on top of her, until their lips are pressed together. 

_She’d kissed people plenty of times, lost count of how many times she shared them with Beck._ They had never felt this good. Tori’s lips were soft instead of chapped, her kisses soothing instead of wet and unpleasant. 

She pushes herself against Tori, firmly feeling the girl beneath her and returning each kiss with a degree of want she’s never felt. _They stop when it gets hard to breathe._

‘That was-‘ Tori starts, her face even redder than before, her lips matching the colour, ‘That was amazing.’

‘It was.’ Jade confirms, smiling as Tori struggled to recollect herself before deciding to make it worse again, ‘So should I be calling you my girlfriend now?’

The sound Tori makes is between a cough and a gasp as she struggles with her response, ‘Yes, _girlfriend, yeah I want that.’_

‘Good,’ Jade offers, the smile that hadn’t left her face starting to make her cheeks hurt.

They end up only squeezing in an hour of play practice, struggling to keep it professional, wanting to have their hands touching, feeling the other in any way they could.

When they go to sleep, it’s in each other’s arms, not wanting to move further than just kisses, but relishing in being able to do so as girlfriends.

When Jade wakes up that morning, she doesn’t bother to grab her scissors and put them in her bag, she feels stronger, like she didn’t need to always be defending herself. Not when someone had seen all of her flaws and still wanted her.

At school, nothing really changes, except for the fact that they walk into class holding hands and push their chairs as close as possible together.

Sikowitz just smiles at them and Jade is grateful that he doesn’t push, doesn’t try to expose them in front of the class, seemingly content in the fact that they were actually listening to him speak.

It’s at lunch when they sit across from each other because André just had to have Tori next to him to share his new song that Jade decides to share their relationship a little more clearly.

_She shoots a quick text to Tori, ‘Can I show them that you’re now mine?’_

_Tori smiles with only a small and brief flush of her cheeks, ‘Yes.’_

She’s an actress, why not make it a show? So she reaches across the table, her torso on top of it, and grasps at the collar of Tori’s shirt. _Tori quickly catches on and leans across the table to meet Jade in the middle._

Jade answers by pressing her lips against Tori’s and grins at the way Tori places her hands against Jade’s waist and returns the kiss with vigour. _She can hear the way their friends are losing it, a mix of cheers and shock but keeps the kiss going for another minute before they pull apart._

‘We’re dating,’ Jade comments once they were both in their seats, Tori bright red in a way that Jade had come to associate with Tori’s feelings for her.

Beck just sighs, passing over 20 bucks to a smiling Cat. ‘You made a bet?’ Tori squeaks out, still trying to recover her voice.

‘Yeah and I just lost it,’ Beck groans, ‘I said after the play but Cat thought before, just one more day and I’d have won, _one more day.’_

He pouts as André pats him on the back, Robbie looking equally miffed as he also handed his money over to Cat.

Normally Jade would have yelled but can’t bring herself to care when her girlfriend sits across from her laughing at the bets being lost.

Their day ends with the two of them going separate ways to their own homes but knowing they’d spend the next day together as Galinda and Elphaba, co-leads of the play.

Morning comes at its hours of preparation, the set getting moved to be on the stage and makeup and costuming soon following.

_Jade can’t help but laugh the first time she sees Tori in full costume._ That poofy dress, the wand in hand and bright blonde hair sticking out everywhere. 

‘The wicked witch dares to laugh at my exquisite looks?’ Tori states dramatically, ‘This wand isn’t just for show.’

Jade laughs loudly at that, ‘That plastic wand?’ It’s enjoyable to watch Tori pout, seeing her face scrunch up at the words.

‘It’s 100% real,’ Tori defends, before conceding, ‘In the play.’

Jade just hums, before leaning in and grazing her lips briefly against Tori’s own. Tori whines at that, moving to kiss Jade again. She places a green finger against Tori’s lips, ‘Can’t have the good witch walking out there with green on her lips, the scandal.’

Tori pulls back, instead, placing her hand in Jade’s, ‘Well then the least the good witch can do is lead her wicked witch to the stage.’

Jade takes her hand and lets herself be led onto the stage, _who knew? The wicked witch and the good witch could care for each other so deeply._ This musical might have called their relationship earlier than Cat.

Jade holds back her laughter on the stage at every scene Beck or André is in, the humour they add to the play contagious. 

She tries not to melt into Tori during Popular, enjoying the feeling of her girlfriend’s hands running down her side as she sings ‘We’re gonna make you pop-u-lar,’ closing her eyes as Tori gets as close as she can, the words genuine, ‘Why Miss Elphaba, look at you, you’re beautiful.’

Each scene passes with a sense of longing, why couldn’t Glinda and Elphaba have fallen in love, _why couldn’t she express her love for her girlfriend through this play?_

Soon they reach the end, hand in hand singing her favourite lines, ‘So much of me,’ Jade pauses, smiling at Tori, ‘Is made of what I learned from you.’ 

She moves to pull Tori’s hands against her chest, ‘You’ll be with me like a handprint on my heart.’

_When Tori smiles, she knows the girl understands. Those lyrics were more than just the musical._ They were her feelings, her love for the girl and the fact that without her? She may have never shared her pain or put those scissors down.

The play ends, the words sung true, ‘Because I knew you, I have been changed _for good.’_

When the lights start to fade, Jade pulls her good witch close and ends the play the way it should, _with a kiss._

_Their relationship only grows stronger from that point._ Jade always brings Tori her favourite coffee in the morning, even arriving slightly earlier to classes for her. 

_The scissors still remain on her locker, but only as a reminder of how much she has changed, idly thumbing them in passing, but never feeling the urge to grab one._

As they grow out of high school and into university, Tori pursues music, starting her career as a singer and Jade moves from musicals into acting, finding her rhythm in those roles that let her be authentically herself.

They never grew tired of the other and a plane ticket to LA 10 years after high school sees them exactly where they want to be. Tori pouts until Jade agrees for them to have a cat at the compromise of her getting that big dog she’d always wanted.

_Waking up in each other’s arms, a kiss shared? Their pets jumping on them for food?_ Jade loved it. She never thought she’d be one for domesticity, but with Tori everything was easy.


End file.
